Rallying of The Shunned
by N B Higham
Summary: When Iruka wasn't the first person to find Naruto, and it was instead someone completely unexpected, what could this mean? With Naruto never having a true friend in Iruka, with the alluring tale of a woman with a similar tale as his in the back of his mind, what shocking choice does Naruto make? Pairing is up in the air.


The Rallying of The Shunned

Chapter One

Summary: When Iruka wasn't the first person to find Naruto, and it was instead someone completely unexpected, what could this mean? With Naruto never learning he had a true friend in Iruka, with the alluring tale of a woman with a similar tale as his in the back of his mind, what shocking choice does Naruto make?

AN: ANOTHER new story, I am just a horrible person with commitment issues, I just can't seem to make myself sit down and write for the stories I already have posted. A quick comment, I have 50,000 hits on my stories! An amazing milestone that really showed to me that quite a few people really do read my stories and that I am not wasting my time with the work I have put into writing. This is a completely original story; I have never seen a story idea like this one, so I think it was worth at least posting a chapter of, even if it doesn't even begin to go into the OC that I introduce.

'Whew!' With the worst part of his task done, Naruto moved quickly through the trees, racing towards the spot Mizuki-sensei had given him explicit instructions to be at after he got the scroll. Breathing a sigh of relief as he sat down, Naruto looked curiously at the scroll in his possession.

'So all I have to do is learn one jutsu before Iruka-sensei gets here, I bet I can do that!' Laying the scroll out in front of him, Naruto unrolled the scroll out part way, looking quickly through the jutsu for something to catch his eye.

After only a brief look in the scroll, Naruto immediately saw "Shadow Clone Jutsu," and after a quick mental debate, mostly thinking about how quickly he needed to get started at learning something, Naruto made up his mind, and started learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

***Three Hours Later***

With a final effort, Naruto looked triumphantly at the clone standing in front of him, before letting it dispel. "YES! I did it!" Naruto leaped up, throwing his fist into the air happily.

Hearing the rustling of leaves, and then the sound of someone jumping down behind him, Naruto turned around, expecting to see Iruka, he practically yelled, "Iruka-sense I-" Naruto stopped as he saw the person that had joined him in the clearing was definitely NOT Iruka.

"Hey! Who are you?" Naruto was confused as he looked at the woman who had jumped down from the trees. His first thought, was that she was astonishingly beautiful. She had long silver hair that shined beautifully in the moonlight that filtered in through the treetops.

The next thing that stuck out largely to him was her eyes. She had stunning green eyes, shinning like emeralds in the night; they drew Naruto in with the intensity with which she was staring at him. Next Naruto took in her garb, an all-black shinobi vest leading down to dark grey skin tight pants, with several pockets sowed along the sides.

'She is so beautiful.' Naruto couldn't help himself as he stared at her for a second, before recovering his composure. "I don't recognize you at all, did Iruka-sensei send you instead of coming himself?"

"Naruto, Mizuki lied to you, stealing the Forbidden Scroll is not some top-secret way to pass the academy. So I want you to go back to the Hokage's Tower and return the scroll. Every available ninja in the village is looking for you right now because what you did is a very severe crime and you need to tell the Hokage what has happened."

Naruto's smile dropped off his face very quickly at this piece of news, and tentatively he replied, "Okay, I will, but who are you? I recognize most people in Konoha."

She smiled, and held out a small scroll to him, which he took, giving her a curious look, "If you want to know who I am, open that scroll after you give the Forbidden Scroll back to the Hokage."

And then she was gone, in an instant she disappeared, so with his mind spinning at the fact that Mizuki-sensei had lied to him, and that something just seemed mysterious about that lady, Naruto rolled the scroll back up, but as he lifted it into his arms, he was surprised to see Iruka drop down into the clearing, a look of rage on his face.

"Naruto! What were you thinking taking the Forbidden Scroll? Do you even KNOW how much trouble you are in?" Iruka was furious at Naruto, pranks were one thing, and even his most rambunctious pranks were nothing compared to the openly criminal act of stealing something as important as the Forbidden Scroll.

"Mizuki-sensei lied to me Iruka-sensei! He said that if I stole the scroll and learned something from it, that you would have to let me pass and become a genin! I swear I didn't know he lied to me, but there was already a woman here who told me I needed to give the scroll back to the Hokage."

Iruka seemed indecisive for a moment, as he was confused, 'Why would Mizuki try to get the Forbidden Scroll? And to pin the blame on Naruto? It doesn't make any sense.'

As deep in thought as he was, Iruka didn't notice the incoming Fuma shuriken until it was too late, and caught completely off guard, Iruka had no chance as the large shuriken dug itself deep into his back, and he fell to the ground with a grunt.

"IRUKA!" Naruto quickly had the Forbidden Scroll hung on his back as he tried to run towards Iruka, only to leap back as his path was intercepted by half a dozen kunai. Naruto landed in a crouch to see Mizuki standing them on a tree branch, a contempt smirk on his face.

"Go ahead and feign sadness you monster." Mizuki had a snarl in his voice, "We both know that you are really nothing more than the Kyuubi, biding your time for who knows what. But I won't give you that chance. Like Iruka, you are going to meet your end by my hand unless you give me that scroll."

Naruto was in shock, tears streaming down his face as he heard Iruka feebly call out to him, "Naruto, you are not the Kyuubi-" Iruka stopped for a second and he coughed up his own blood, "And whatever happens, do not let Mizuki get the scroll, run to the Hokage and get help now!"

Up above, Mizuki laughed at them, "Foolish Iruka, we both know the truth! The Yondaime supposedly sealed the Great Kyuubi no Kitsune into Naruto, but how could something like that be held back by something like a seal? Naruto has to die, and either way I will be hailed as a hero for killing the Kyuubi, and you won't stop me!" Whipping a kunai into his hand, Mizuki leaped down from the branch, prepared to kill Iruka.

Naruto watched for only a split second before dashing towards Iruka, "NO! I won't let you hurt him! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" As Naruto ran, several Shadow Clones poofed into existence next to him, and two clones grabbed his arm and threw him like a human bullet at Mizuki.

As he got within 10 feet of Mizuki as Mizuki landed next to Iruka, Mizuki turned to look at Naruto, a look of utter surprise on his face, as Naruto's fist smashed into his face, sending him skidding several yards. Leaving Mizuki no time to recover, Naruto called out again, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Flooding all of the chakra he could into it this time, Naruto hardly noticed as there were now hundreds of Naruto's scattered around Mizuki in a circle, but Mizuki definitely noticed, with surprise evident on his face, he could sparsely defend himself in time as the mass horde of orange jumpsuit wearing blondes descended on him.

With only a few seconds to prepare himself, Mizuki pulled out 2 kunai and held them in a reverse-handed grip, "I am going to kill you, as a service to everyone here, I will kill you Kyuubi boy!"

Not even watching his clones any longer, Naruto ran to Iruka's side, "I am going to get you out of here Iruka-sensei, I will get you help." Iruka grabbed Naruto's hand, looking at him for a second, and said, "Thank you Naruto, but it isn't going to help, I am going to die Naruto."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief, "No, no, no! You can't die Iruka-sensei! Then who will take me to get ramen?" Tears were openly sliding down Naruto's face now, and he clutched Iruka's hand tightly in his.

"Naruto, I have something to say. In the last year, I have come to see you like a younger brother, and I know you are going to become a great ninja that will prove everyone else wrong. I love you Naruto, and I want you to have this," Iruka pulled a trembling hand up and untied his headband before placing it in Naruto's hand. "Congratulations Naruto, you are now a genin of Konoha."

With that, Iruka's hand fell to the ground, and Iruka's eyes closed forever. "No! Iruka!" Tears were now pouring uninhibited down Naruto's face, as he hugged Iruka's head to his chest. Then, he turned to face Mizuki, who was desperately trying to fight off the mass of clones, who was partially succeeding.

**MAKE HIM PAY. KILL THE MIZUKI FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE, MAKE HIM PAY.**

As suddenly as it came, the voice was gone, and all Naruto could feel was rage, unbridled rage directed at Mizuki. As a wave of red chakra flowed off of him, Naruto let all of his shadow clones fighting Mizuki dispel, leaving Mizuki looking around in confusion before he turned to face Naruto, and fear showed on his face.

In a blast of speed, Naruto was on Mizuki, Kyuubi-enhanced speed and strength allowing him to tear apart the hasty defense Mizuki was able to put up before he could get to him. With one punch, Mizuki was launched away, smashing through a tree, he skidded nearly 30 yards before coming to a stop.

But even as he came to a stop, Naruto was on him again. With wild, uncoordinated blows, Naruto reveled in the feeling of Mizuki's bones crunching as he broke nearly all of his ribs with a series of body shots.

Pulling Mizuki up, Naruto threw him as hard as he could against a tree, putting him through yet another tree as he hit a rock and came to a stop. Naruto was on him again, holding Mizuki up with his left hand, his right hand pulled back in a fist.

"**How could you kill him! You killed Iruka, and I will make you pay!" **

Coughing up blood, Mizuki laughed, "See? You are a monster! And my only wish was that I had killed you."

"**Ahhhh!"** Naruto screamed into Mizuki's face, before bringing his fist down one more time, catching Mizuki's head between the rock and his fist, Mizuki's head exploded like a melon, leaving Naruto covered in blood.

As his rage subsided, Naruto began crying again, staring at his hand, he couldn't help himself as he cried. 'I killed Mizuki-sensei. I was just so mad, I don't know what happened, and all I could think about was what he did to Iruka, and that voice, what was that? Mizuki-sensei killed someone, but that doesn't make it okay for me to kill him.'

Feeling suddenly more tired than he had ever felt, Naruto laid down and was asleep before the first Anbu arrived on the scene.

AN: Really short, even for me but that's just the way that the fight played out. Who is the mysterious woman with silver hair? Is Iruka really dead? How will it all play out now that Naruto KILLED Mizuki? Hopefully I get some response for this, I have a lot of ideas flowing about the plot, and I have been building this story for about a week now, adding new ideas with olds ones I have had for a while. Hopefully you don't all hate me, I know that Iruka took more than one Fuma Shuriken in canon, but any way you look at it, he was caught completely off guard knowing that Mizuki was up to something, and Mizuki capitalized on his inattentiveness.


End file.
